The present invention relates to a thermally conductive holder for holding a heat-generating component such as a battery.
In recent years, there have been demands in the field of electronic equipment for realizing not only its miniaturization and better performance, but also its availability for a longer period of time. With such demands, in the field of batteries mounted in electronic equipment, efforts have been directed toward their miniaturization as well as an increase in their capacity. As a result, the power consumption from the batteries has been increased, causing a larger amount of heat to be generated from the batteries.
Traditionally, to protect such batteries, a cushion member formed in a sheet has been sometimes provided around them. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-273643, for example, discloses a cushion member formed of a thermally conductive elastic material. This cushion member is inserted between a battery and a housing for accommodating the battery so as to cushion vibration from the outside. At the same time, the cushion conducts heat generated from the battery to the housing so that the housing radiates the heat, thereby inhibiting the battery's performance from degrading due to the heat.
Recently, there has also been proposed a holder, as a thermally conductive cushion member, which is formed into a shape conforming to the profile of a battery and mounted on the battery to be used.
A rubber material is used as a base material for the holder above described, because it facilitates easy mounting of the holder onto a heat-generating component such as battery and excels in cushioning action. It is required for improving thermal conductivity of the holder to incorporate a large amount of thermally conductive filler into the rubber material.
However, inclusion of the large amount of thermally conductive filler into the rubber material can decrease the elasticity of the rubber of the holder to be obtained, which results in difficulty in mounting the holder on a heat-generating component.
To deal with the above-mentioned disadvantages, an objective of the present invention is to provide a thermally conductive holder that has excellent thermal conductivity, and is easy to mount on a heat-generating component.